Title

Author

Date of Defense

11-29-2016

Date of Graduation

4-2017

Department

Music

First Advisor

Bruce Uchimura

Second Advisor

Dmitri Pogorelov

Abstract

The concept behind this thesis was to provide a program that would serve as a collective representation of my musical journey thus far. Therefore, the pieces included on the program reflect the many dimensions through which music has manifested itself in my life through violin, piano, my faith, and musical composition. The program begins with Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Max Bruch which was the piece that I auditioned into the violin studio with, and thus, the piece that began my music career at Western Michigan University as an Instrumental Music Education Major on violin. The next three pieces, Sonata in D Minor by Arcangelo Corelli, Romanian Folk Dances by Bela Bartok, and Symphonie Espagnole by Edouard Lalo represent a culmination of the major works that I studied over my two and a half years in the violin studio. The second half of my program, the untraditional half, is when I start to explore other avenues through which music has affected my life. The first piece is Duelling Violins from Michael Flately’s Feet of Flames that I watched as a young child and that inspired me to play violin. The next piece, All of Me, is a piano piece that I learned for fun during a difficult time in my college career and that allowed me to escape my stressful circumstances and just enjoy playing music again. Next on the program is a Christian hymn entitled, We Bow Down, which I included as a tribute to my Lord and Savior who has blessed me with the gift of music and orchestrated the events and people in my life who have helped lead me to where I am today. The final piece, Christmas Morning, is one of my favorite pieces that I composed. I also asked my former violin and piano teachers to perform my composition with me to create a full circle ending to the program.